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Codes of conduct aim to ensure that the battle for influence is waged fairly

All the EU’s main institutions have introduced codes of conduct to govern their relations with lobbyists and the industry itself has drawn up a set of voluntary guidelines which many of the firms operating in Brussels today have signed up to.

All these codes seek to ensure that lobbyists are open about the job they are doing and do not use underhand methods to try to get what they want.

The lobbyists’ own code states that public affairs practitioners should “identify themselves by name and company”, declare the interests they represent, not misrepresent the links they have with the EU institutions to their clients, and not attempt to bribe Union officials.

The European Parliament’s code of conduct takes a similar line. Lobbyists dealing with the institution must be clear about who they are working for and should not misrepresent their relations with MEPs to third parties. In addition, they should be particularly careful when considering employing former MEPs or staff who have worked within the institution.

The European Commission and Council of Ministers have a register of lobby groups which any organisation which seeks to influence either institution should sign up to. The Commission’s rules also forbid lobbyists from being given access to the institution’s press centre, in an effort to avoid press conferences being used by campaigners to ask partisan questions and make particular points But while the various codes of conduct look good on paper, critics of the current system say that there will always be occasions when the rules are flouted while they are not binding on companies and organisations involved in the lobbying process.

The Parliament’s rules, for example, state that all lobbyists should wear clearly identifiable badges when they are on the institution’s premises. However, many MEPs say this requirement is hardly ever met. “The whole idea is that lobbyists have to be clearly identified by wearing a distinct badge. But I work here every day and I do not see that,” says UK Socialist MEP Glyn Ford, whose recent report on lobbyists’ activities served as the basis for the Parliament’s code of conduct.

Ford also argues that there is a need for tougher policing of the activities of MEPs’ assistants, voicing concern that some staff working for parliamentarians have links with outside interest groups. “I do not think you should be able to be a parliamentary assistant if you are working for someone else as well,” he says.

Enforcement is also a problem for the Commission, with journalists complaining that the EU executive’s ban on lobbyists attending the midday briefings and press conferences is all too often breached, mostly by former reporters who have crossed the divide into public affairs.

The industry itself accepts that more needs to be done to put its own house in order, although it insists that significant progress has been made in recent years. But most lobbyists working in Brussels reject the idea that the current codes of conduct should be made legally-binding and argue that in the long term, it is in their own self-interest to behave responsibly.

“Most of us deal with the same officials and politicians on campaign after campaign, for client after client. So it is not in our interest to have bad relations with people. In Brussels, if somebody shuts a door in your face it is very difficult to make them open it again,” said one seasoned public affairs expert.